When it comes to building and decorating homes, this ain’t John and Betty Martin’s first rodeo. When the couple met and married in 1978, John’s work in the oil and gas industry took them to Houston from their native Mississippi. In the ensuing 36 years, their home base in Katy was joined first by a ranch in Wharton, then a lake house in Canyon Lake. The weekend getaway spots fulfilled the Martins’ yearning for, as Betty puts it, a return to “the country style of living” that these rural-raised transplants had grown up with and wanted to share with their own two children. Once the kids were grown and married, the Martins sold the ranch just outside Houston and began a quest to find a larger property, ideally about 2,000 acres. Additional must-haves beyond size included space for John’s big-game trophies and live-water access for wildlife; most of the couple’s other requirements were architectural or design-based. “We wanted a home that fit the beautiful hills of Texas where the American Indians had lived,” Betty says. But it wasn’t until John stopped in to visit a friend in Utopia while on a hunting trip that he — and soon Betty — realized that they had found their promised land. It was in this, the southernmost corner of the Hill Country, where they found the ranch they would dub Kemosabe, the backdrop for the dream home it would take them years to plan, build and decorate. And what a home it is. Incorporating influences from Spanish-style haciendas and classic ranches of Texas and the Southwest, the 17,000-square-foot stunner features rough-beam ceilings, dark wood and heavy iron accents, and dramatic touches throughout — arches, stained-glass windows, richly detailed boveda ceilings, and statement pieces such as the stand-alone copper vanities in the bathrooms and the colossal 7-foot antler chandelier over the pool table. Built around a large center courtyard, the home’s outdoor living features are as comfortable as those indoors. As artistic as it is inviting is the infinity-edged “spool” — “bigger than a spa, smaller than a pool,” Betty says. Regularly spaced nichos display crosses, pathways meander, and a prominent tower facilitates stargazing.